Hexagram 40 解 changing to hexagram 2 坤
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 4.
What to read
Two changing lines: read both line texts of the original hexagram; the upper one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 40 解, line 4
解而拇，朋至斯孚。
(To the subject of) the fourth line, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence'
Hexagram 40 解, line 2
田獲三狐，得黃矢，貞吉。
The second line, undivided, shows its subject catch, in hunting, three foxes, and obtain the yellow ( = golden) arrows. With firm correctness there will be good fortune.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 40 解 — judgment
利西南，无所往，其來復吉。有攸往，夙吉。
In (the state indicated by) Kieh advantage will be found in the south-west. If no (further) operations be called for, there will be good fortune in coming back (to the old conditions). If some operations be called for, there will be good fortune in the early conducting of them.
Hexagram 2 坤 — judgment
元亨。利牝馬之貞。
Khwăn (represents) what is great and originating, penetrating, advantageous, correct and having the firmness of a mare. When the superior man (here intended) has to make any movement, if he take the initiative, he will go astray; if he follow, he will find his (proper) lord. The advantageousness will be seen in his getting friends in the south-west, and losing friends in the north-east. If he rest in correctness and firmness, there will be good fortune.
The changing lines of hexagram 40
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 田獲三狐，得黃矢，貞吉。 | The second line, undivided, shows its subject catch, in hunting, three foxes, and obtain the yellow ( = golden) arrows. With firm correctness there will be good fortune. |
| 4 | 解而拇，朋至斯孚。 | (To the subject of) the fourth line, undivided, (it is said), 'Remove your toes. Friends will (then) come, between you and whom there will be mutual confidence' |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.